How much can a soul change
by Hector Flores
Summary: Ichigo and Isshin began together as brother and first generation of captains for their division, but tragedy would strike and cost Ichigo his life while he tried to save his brother. Years later he would awaken in Hueco Mundo and eventually reach the high in hollow evolution. His life changed when a soul reaper made him an offer that was simply too good to be true.
1. Chapter 1

This is a fan fiction. I do not own Bleach in any form.  
I do hope you will enjoy it.

Isshin and Ichigo were both born in the worst part of Rukongai. The level headed Isshin always had problem with his battle hungry brother, Isshin was the weird one between the two. All the members of the Shiba Clan were violent and prone to respond harshly to any challenge. Isshin was the most level headed member of the clan, and Ichigo was the very embodiment of the clan way of thinking, the clan was known to be one of the best fireworks makers ever, and Ichigo was particularly gifted, fire just seemed to love the guy.

Ichigo and his brother had just finished making something for a merchant and when they left the place they saw a group of people doing something they would regret. They where making fun on how boring her birthday would be since she and her adoptive father were both flat broke. Ichigo just had to step in, there was something he hated and that was seeing a girl cry.

"So you morons want to pick a fight? well congratulations are in order since you picked it with me, and before you even ask it's because you made fun of her. We all are as poor as all hell, and you make fun of her because you think you are richer than her. You are nothing but cowards. Worthless, stupid, weak, pathetic and ugly cowards at that." The group of fools was know to have one thing that they were proud of and that was their looks. They looked like they were part of a band of models. But Ichigo insulted that one thing that they could not stand and let it go.

"Who are you calling ugly!?" They all jumped and tried to rushed Ichigo. "Hook, line and sinker." Isshin just had to say it as the group of bullies jumped right above where Ichigo had thrown a paper bag. With a click of his finger the bag blew up and in an impressive explosion the group of bullies where caught in it. All four were badly burned and scarred Ichigo walked over their injuried bodies, giving each a downwards kick to the family jewels.

"Don't you worry Yachiru, I will make this birthday your very best, don't you cry. I bust out my A class fireworks and you will have the best birthday ever." Yachiru actually smiled at what her friend did. It was a big secret but Ichigo and her adoptive father like to fight and Yachiru enjoyed seeing them have so much fun together. She even had a nickname for him. "Ichi, do you mean it? Thanks, Ichi I will tell dad about it." The young girl ran towards her home.

"If you are done with your friend, can you help me take care of the group of idiots that you just injured." Ichigo told his brother that they didn't have anything sharp enough to finish the job. "I mean come and help me treat their injuries, what you actually want to kill them?" Ichigo told him that he was actually disappointed in his bomb, it was supposed to incinerate them but it only cause minor burns.

Isshin actually could not believe his brother words. He looked at the idiots on the ground. "You call this minor, I don't want to see what you call major burns." Ichigo helped his brother for him and it gave him a few more chances to give the morons a few well place hits. "I asked you to help me heal them, not beat them up." Ichigo told him that he was waking them up, he did the same thing to him for years, when he slept too much.

"Don't remind me, I still wake up from sheer fear of your wake up calls." Ichigo told him that he should thank him instead of wasting his time with pukes like them. "Life is precious Ichigo, they simply are too young to know any better, we must give them a chance to learn." Ichigo was not going to sit there and hear his brother sermon again. He told him he better leave and get something to eat, or he would more than likely have to beat the idiots again, and this time he was not going to take it easy on them.

Isshin told him to go and eat something, and bring him something in a little bit, it would not take long for him to heal them. Ichigo left and gave each a nice lump on their heads to remember to avoid him. "Stupid brother, compassion will only get you killed. I wanted those stupid bastards dead for making Yachiru cry." Little did he knew he was being watched. The commander of the soul reapers had heard rumors of the two brothers that were as different as night and day.

One brother was a born killer, and the other a kind caring soul. It was clear that the one headed towards their living space, was indeed the killer and the kind one was tending the people his brother just admitted having failed in killing them, and all because they made a girl cry. One of the soul reapers made his way towards Isshin and told him he had better ways to heal, he used his powers to heal the people that his brother had injured.

"My friend and me where sent to invite you into the seireitei and be given the chance to save souls from the threat of hollows. I know you would want to save people, so will you accept?" Isshin told him he would not abandon his brother. He was his only relative and he would not abandon him, specially if he was to be a soul reaper and live a comfortable life. He would not leave Ichigo and live in comfort by himself

"Don't worry about Ichigo, my friend is going over there and inviting him too. They will get along rather well." Isshin asked if his friend liked to fight? the man smiled and said that his friend hated bullies as much as his brother did, a strong sense of justice and he would never allow them to go without a punishment, but yes his friend loved a good fight.

Ichigo was just finished cooking the food he would take to his brother, eating alone was not his favorite thing in the world, so he would pack two lunches and take one to his brother, they always ate together after all. "Look, I don't know who you are, but I am rather busy. If you want charity go talk to that softy brother of mine." Yamamoto began to laugh. "No, I am actually looking for you Ichigo, or should I say the pyro fiend of Rukongai."

"Look as flattered as I am old man, I am busy if you want to talk move those fingers and give me a hand." Yamamoto helped him by packing the food he made. "Mind if I ask why do you put so much effort cooking this food?" Ichigo told him he could not find anything that tasted good so he had to make due with what he found. It was for his brother, why wouldn't he put some effort in cooking their food?

Yamamoto liked the kid, it was almost funny that he called his brother a softy and it was clear he cared a lot about people. When he finished he went on and began to work on something else. "Well the food is ready, what are you doing now, Ichigo?" Ichigo told the old man that he was making fireworks for a little girl's birthday. It took him 10 minutes but he made enough fireworks to make that birthday something to remember.

He took both the lunches and the fireworks with him and left. Yamamoto followed, he wanted to see where he was going. "You know I could carry some of that." Ichigo told him that he would never make an old man carry that much, he could injure himself and then he would get yet another sermon from his brother, and he did not want that. Yamamoto laughed and found the entire thing rather amusing.

They got to a small hut and Ichigo knocked. A large man came out and he smiled. "Ichigo, want to fight?" Ichigo told him that he had to take a rain check on the fun, he was simply delivering the fireworks for Yachiru's birthday. "Karazaki, you know how to use them right?" The big guy smiled and told him he did. "Tell Yachiru a happy birthday from me, and we will fight again real soon, Karazaki."

"Sure thing Ichigo, I will tell her, and looking forward to us having fun." The large man entered the hut and spoke to someone, as soon as he did a young girl jumped on Ichigo's shoulder and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for the fireworks, Ichi." Yamamoto was surprised that Ichigo crossed three districts so fast, and only to make a little girl happy. Yes, this Ichigo was a good candidate for his little project.

Ichigo began to walk towards where his brother was at. "I know where you brother is why don't you follow me. If you can keep up with an old man." Ichigo told him to do his worst. Yamamoto took off at high speed and Ichigo really had to run to keep up with him. When they reached the gates Ichigo was breathing hard. He asked how could an old man run that fast. "Accept what your brother will tell you, and you might just find out how."

"The old man must be losing it, what did he mean what my brother offers me? Isshin doesn't have anything to offer. If anything I have lunch to give to him." He walked towards his brother and saw that some guy with a really nice mustache was with him. "So bro, what gives? didn't you say you were going to heal the pack of losers?" Isshin told him they were healed and had been sent on their way to their homes. Ichigo told him he delivered the fireworks for Yachiru's birthday, Kazaraki was going to set them off.

"Karazaki always did care about his little girl, I bet she was really happy. As to what am I doing, this guy and the old man over there told me that he could train us to be able to save human souls from monsters. Ichigo could hardly contain his laughter. "Oh, sure two officers from the Gotei squads want to train two nobodies from Rukongai, get real. They only train people from noble clans, and ours is hardly what they would consider noble. The Kuchiki clan would sooner see us both dead, than be admitted for training and you know it."

The English look gentleman asked what could he mean by that. The Kuchiki clan was one of the most honorable clans there were. "Maybe I should introduce myself and my brother. I am Isshin Shiba, and this blockhead is my brother Ichigo Shiba. We are both members of the Shiba Clan, and obviously were born from different mothers, we both were born in Rukongai and lived together ever since our mothers both died."

"I see, a noble of the Shiba Clan went and had his fun with two women of Rukongai and you both are his illegitimate children. You both know of the Shiba Clan probably because your mother told you about your father. Sadly that is not an unknown thing here. As much as the soul reapers try to keep the order, we have too many things to do and too few in our ranks."

Yamamoto then came to them and said something that shocked them. "My lieutenant will train Isshin. and you Ichigo since we both have a fire affinity will train with me. If you accept and reach your bankai. You can be the first captains of a new division. We have nine so far, so you both could be the captains of the 10th and 11th divisions. So do you accept or not. I'll make it simple, just walk though that gate if you accept, but you must be able to open it yourselves."

Isshin walked over and tried to push the gate open but it was immensely heavy. "Hey could you tell the big lug behind the gate to stop pushing it, my brother will never be able to open it if he keeps that up." Both soul reapers looked at Ichigo, and they wondered how in the world could he tell that someone was behind the gate. "I mean it, stop pushing or so help me I will burn that thing down."

"All right, guard stop pushing." Isshin began to push the gate and it opened and he walked through. There was somebody that looked like a giant behind it. "Ok, Isshin step away from the gate." Isshin did not like the sound of that. "Ichigo, just push it, there is no need to burn the thing down you know." Ichigo ran towards the gate and with a strong push the gate opened and he ran through the other side. "Honestly could you do anything peacefully?" Ichigo asked where the fun in that?

The old man could clearly see that he was not going to have an easy job teaching Ichigo, "Well since you both entered then we start your training as soon as you get some sleeping quarters assigned and receive your training gear." Isshin was looking forward to it, and Ichigo asked that the sleeping quarters were no were near the Kuchiki Clan compound. Yamamoto promised that it would be so.

It took three years before their training was done, in truth they were ready after one but they wanted to be ready for anything. During their first year as soul reapers the two brothers did somethings that were considered amazing. Isshin had developed a technique to calm down his enemies, he even managed to calm down a menos and it was a gillian but it was amazing non the less. The Gillian became so calm that it even didn't bother to fight, it simply went back to hueco mundo without making a fuss.

Ichigo however saw the soul of a small child crying, and it was surrounded by 23 hollows each fighting each other for the right to eat her. Ichigo using only his zanpakuto who he found out was a spirit of fire, that took the shape of a beautiful young woman with long black hair. She was a very emotional, but considerate spirit. The shikai release for her was, Purify the world in you flames, Amaterasu.

With his sword release to the shikai level he killed every single of the hollows and sent the crying child to the soul society, where one day would remember the person who faced such dangers and thank Ichigo for saving her. She would eventually become his attendant and take care of his needs, but what was most astonishing was a secret. Only Captain Commander Yamamoto knew, and that was that Ichigo had achieved the bankai release and was simply waiting for his brother to be able to do it.


	2. Chapter 2

This is a fan fiction. I do not own Bleach in any form.

The actual Shiba Clanhead heard that Isshin and Ichigo were being called members of his clan, this made him feel a rage that could not be hidden. He boldly walked to the Captain Commander's office and demanded that the two who were being called clan members be brought to him. So that he may tell them off and make them see that they were not born from a marriage and thus not considered part of the clan.

Well that didn't go as well with Ichigo as well as did with Isshin. Ichigo told him that if they did not want him, he did not want them either. He said that he would form a new clan and it would be called the Kurosaki Clan, and Isshin as the oldest brother would be it's first clan head. Captain Commander Yamamoto had grow rather close to Ichigo as he was the one who trained him.

He decided to do some investigating on the real reason why he current clan head apparently hated the two brothers so much. He obtained an item that could compare the blood of two peoples and see if they were related. He obtained a blood sample from both brothers and then he marched right into the office of the Shiba clan head, the man was stubborn as a mule and just about as kind as a rabid old wolf.

"Look if you are here for me to reconsider, don't waste your breath. I will never accept those two as members of my clan, not now and not ever." Captain Commander Yamamoto told him that it was quite the opposite, he wanted to prove that they were not members of the clan, as he did not like the idea of his best student being linked to his clan in the first place. This made him both angry and relieved. Angry that he thought less of his noble clan and relieved that he would not force him to accept the two brothers.

"And for that I need a blood sample from you. This will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you are not related to them." That is when he began to act a little more nervious that he had. He agreed to give him the blood sample, as he was quite sure the Captain Commander was not going to take no as an answer, he was getting that sample one way or another, and doing it voluntary would be much less dangerous than the alternative.

The Captain Commander tested Isshin's blood first, and in a matter of second was shown that he clan head was not only related but was also Isshin's father. He tested Ichigo and he too was a child of the man who publicly shouted his anger at both of them being considered members of his clan. "I think you owe me an explanation. This test proves both brothers are your sons, why do you hate them so? and why didn't you take them in to live here with you after their mothers died?"

"Isshin's mother was a prostitute I paid to sleep with her, I told her she would gain nothing from me even if she kept the child, and she just to spite me I think. Ichigo is the child of a people we soul reapers nearly hunted to extinction. He is the grandson of the first Quincy, and his daughter was my lover. This is what caused me to be booted out of the soul reaper ranks, and for that I hate Ichigo, as I hated her mother for not telling me she was a Quincy."

"Why didn't those two brats die in the slums like they were supposed to. If they did none of this would have been discovered." Captain Commander Yamamoto told him that he did not need to worry, he would not reveal anything. Not for his sake, but for the sake of the two brothers. He honestly cared about them, almost felt a paternal love towards them, Ichigo especially.

Ichigo was in deep meditation and it was clear that he was talking with his sword's spirit. From the smile on his face he was having a rather pleasant chat with Amaterasu. Ichigo always talked with her in a friendly and honest way, something she appreciated. The world where she inhabited was a lush garden surrounded by three active volcanoes. When he first saw it Ichigo asked how the garden could bloom when there was such destruction around them.

She had told him that this place represents his own soul. The volcanoes were his violent tendencies that he used to hide something gentle and beautiful from others. He never asked again and now that they trained to get to know each other even more, the lady stopped her teasing that she did when they first tried to get to know each other. It had been only a few years, but they behaved like they been friends for centuries.

Isshin being better at mental techniques entered his brother's mind and saw what the two where doing. "How much closer can you get to your sword if you haven't even reach bankai yet. I wonder if a blockhead like you will ever reach that release level." Amaterasu was angry as she heard Ichigo's brother talk like that, so much that she did something Ichigo clearly did not want her to do.

"Your one to talk Isshin, you haven't reached that release but I will tell you something that Ichigo has kept secret. He has reached the bankai release, and could be named Captain of his own squad. But he has chosen to to demonstrate his bankai to the other captains and the captain commander to let you be the first to be named Captain of your squad. I told him you could be named Captain later, but he refuses to do as I have asked for these past year. He keeps telling me that he will not steal your thunder, and now you insult him, after you entered his soul, without even asking permission to enter!?"

Isshin could not believe it, that his brother would do something like that, so he demanded proof. Amaterasu made a sword appear. Ichigo took the sword and began to do the shikai release. "Purify the world in you flames, Amaterasu" The sword blade turned black, and the hilt turned the color of blood, flames clearly were visible on the edge of his sword.

Ichigo chanced stances, it was the stance for the bankai release. "Consume the sins of the word in your holy flames, Amaterasu no Kimi." The spiritual pressure was immense and the blade simply disappeared. The hilt turned to as black as night and that was the only thing normal, instead of the blade, a blade of pure blue flames was clearly seen. "That is my bankai form, and in that form I can purify hollows of any kind with the slightest of efforts, do you still think that your brother has not reached the bankai release. Instead of insulting him, you should see how much your brother cares about you instead."

It was two years later that Isshin actually achieved his bankai release. Much like himself his bankai release had the power to heal rather than simply kill. With a flick of his hand the sword could heal 20 people or kill 20 hollows. It was all in the feelings he had when he used his blade. He demonstrated it in front of the Captain Commander and every single current Captain, and so he was named the Captain of the 10th division.

Ichigo did not want to show his bankai, he felt that the Kuchiki Clan would make fun of him, or that they would refused to see his bankai release because he was not that well liked by the noble clans. His was the idea of making a new clan, but then refused to be the clan head. This to the others felt like he was not willing to assume the responsibilities of the clan. They called him everything from disrespectful to downright coward.

The Captain Commander had to order him and the others to watch his bankai release. With much anger they watched as they saw Ichigo go through his bankai release. The form his sword took shocked everyone that saw it. There was no blade, only a flame that looked like the blade of the sword. He cut a rope in two and they saw how quickly the rope burned. It was a special rope, used to hold hollows so that a group may eliminate it.

Ichigo could not do a single kido spell. He could not control his spirit energy to the degree necessary to cast one. Much like himself his spirit energy was simply to volatile and violent to control. And so he was named the Captain of the 11th Division. The 11th only accepted people skilled in combat with their swords. It was Ichigo who said it as he took on the position. "We live by the sword, We fight to our last breath, and we never give up or ever surrender."

His lieutenants were determined by combat. Only the strongest would be considered officers in his squad. There was no room for slackers, and no room for undisciplined fighters. If they were not killing hollow, they were training to the point others said that the members of the 11th division simply loved to fight. It was true to a point, every member of the division loved to fight, but it was to keep the hollows from harming others. That was the part that no one understood.

The 10th division was known for the best scouts in the Gotei. Isshin also had a tradition of training hard. In his division it was to train the demon arts. Each and every member was a excellent at the use of their spells. And one again the test was practical. Isshin would place a large rock and told them, that those that could cut a single chip of the boulder, no larger than a fingernail. Those would be the officers. The smaller the rock the higher the seat.

People joked that Ichigo's was a much more merciful way compared to his brother, this was a cause of much laughter in both divisions. Many years later the 13 Gotei division were finally complete and Ichigo was often seen sparring with the Captain Commander. Out of all the people that were Captains, Ichigo was one of two people that could keep up with the old man.

Some years later Ichigo happened to be walking towards the Captain Commanders office when he bumped into what he thought was a little girl. He offered to give help her up on her feet. She refused to be touched by someone like him. Having no time to argue he simply picked her up and dusted her off, and walked towards his destination. That was when the little girl tried to cast a kido at him.

"I don't care how young you are, but casting a kido at a captain is grounds for a severe punishment. Since you are a little kid, I will let you off with this warning, but try that again and I will beat you till you can't see straight for a month." Ichigo left towards the captain commander who had heard the entire thing. "You do realize that was a member of the Kuchiki Clan right?" Yamamoto wanting to make sure.

"Just because she is a noble, that doesn't excuse bad behavior. If she is a noble, she should act like a noble and be honorable." The captain commander told him that sometimes the so called Noble clans got a little bit of a case of inflated egos and acted in a not so noble way. "Aside from the brat, what did you need of me, teacher?" Captain Commander Yamamoto smiled as he called him like he did when he was being trained.

"As fate would have it we have seen an increase in hollows entering the human world, and as such I need for you to go and find the reason for the sudden increase in hollows there. It should be enough for you to accomplish this alone. Be sure to visit the quartermaster and pick up your seal. As you know the powers of a captain are too much for the human world, and such you must wear that seal."

Ichigo told him that he taught him that a few years back, and he was not going to forget it any time soon. "Ichigo, I think a vasta lorde is the one that is letting so many hollows enter the human world. If it is I want you to send a request for reinforcements, I do not want you to try and take care of a hollow of that rank by yourself." Ichigo told him he would try but it the hollow attacked he would do his best to buy them enough time to make it to him.

It turned out that it wasn't a vasta lorde that was making it easy for other hollows to enter the human real, but a pack of wolf adjuchas. It was pretty rare for a pack of them to work together but it was clearly the case to Ichigo as they saw them all working together to make an opening someone made become larger. This was not good, if they continued they would eventually allow more hollows than he could take care off. The balance would be destroyed and the human world would collapse.

Ichigo did his very best and using his bankai he killed all the hollows, but something was wrong with this situation, he could not tell what but he definitely could feel it. The hollow he just killed were pawns to someone else, and that someone one could control hollows or they made a deal of some sort. Either way it looked bad. But he couldn't know how bad it was.

When he returned to the soul society he was met by a group of men, and those men were new souls that had just arrived, for some reason they still had all their memories. It turns out that they were the wolf hollows that he just killed. The reason they wanted to talk with him was that they had something to tell him. They each told Ichigo the same story with a few differences.

They had all been hunting individually in Hueco Mundo, and each where approached by a strangely dressed soul reaper, but instead of killing them, he promised something to each. To some he offered power, To others he promised prey, and to the last he promised that he would help him find happiness. They each believed him and did as they were asked. They were never told why this soul reaper wanted to let more hollows into the human world.

Ichigo thanked them and told them that they should not tell this to anyone, for that soul reaper could want to kill them to keep his plan's secret. They each thanked him for his concern and walked away, when he reached the Captain Commander he told him everything he saw in the human world, but kept what he learned when he returned a secret. He would need proof of what those men told him, you don't accuse a fellow soul reaper without evidence after all.


	3. Chapter 3

This is a fan fiction. I do not own Bleach in any form.

Ichigo actually began to be more open with the other soul reapers since that day. The idea was that if they felt that their friend, one of them would slip up and tell him of his plot or simply invite him to join their scheme. That didn't happen at all, what did happen was that for some reason he became really good friends with a soul reaper named Rangiku Matsumoto. She liked spending time with him, since he was one of the few people that actually wanted to get to know her, and not just out right ask to sleep with her.

Ichigo would often tell her that it was partially her fault, she was practically flashing so much cleavage, that who wouldn't want to touch her. To which she responded why didn't he make a pass at her ten? Ichigo said that he would always let the lady make the first move, if she was interested he would respond, that way he could evade so many problems. Rukia heard and asked if he would date her. Ichigo said that he was not a pedophile, and thus was not interested in little kids in that way.

Rukia left not that happy and told him that she was just joking in the first place. Rangiku and Ichigo turned out both loved to spar, or at the very least he did and she wanted to spend time with him. Isshin flat out accused him of either trying to steal his third seated officer, or her of using her brother to slack off. That was when she decided to wrap her arms around his neck and flat out said that she was not slacking off, and that she was actually dating Ichigo, so he should be kinder to his future sister in law.

Isshin looked at Ichigo and was almost in tear, he demanded to know why he never told him that he was dating Rangiku of all people. "On the one side I don't see you that often, on the other it's a rather intimate thing. I don't ask you if you are dating anybody do I?" Isshin told him that as clan head he had the right to know if he was, since that person would join the clan. Rangiku just said that it was an excuse to meddle in his younger brothers life.

At that moment someone jumped onto Ichigo's back. It was as a big surprise for both him and Rangiku. "Ichi, you won't believe what just happened." Yachiru was clearly happy about something. "Let me guess you and Karazaki are my newest members of my division and you want to try and beat one of my seated officers?" Yachiru smiled. "Nope, I am as of today your second seated officer, and Karazaki took the first, we just got done beating the two weaklings that were the previous officers.

"Rangiku as fun as it is to spend time with you, I guess I should head back to my division, or else Karazaki is going to kill half of my division by the time I get there." She leaned close enough for him to feel her breast pressing against him, and she gave him a kiss that made both Yachiru and Isshin blush. "Let's do this again sometime." Rangiku walked away looking rather happy.

Ichigo ran towards the 11th division office thinking that Karazaki went and tried to most of his division. When he arrived he saw Karazaki doing drills with his division. "Hey, Ichigo, you are too soft on these losers, I will take care of them, but in return fight me some time like old times."

Karazaki was quite happy to spar with his old friend again, and was learning something that he never thought was necessary, to trust his blade and be open with it. He was quite surprised that he found out his blade's spirit loved combat as much as he did, and when other would talk they always fought each other. He told Ichigo that for them the clash of swords told them everything that they needed to say. Action speaks louder than words.

Rangiku also had a few problems, some of the people in her own division tried many times to ask her out, but she told them that she was already seeing someone, nobody wanted to or would believe her. Gin was especially stubborn about not wanting to date anyone else, other than her supposed boyfriend. Aizen told his lieutenant that she had the right to chose who she dated. But even he asked who she was dating, when she saw that it was him who asked she had no alternative. She told them both she was dating the captain of the 11th combat division.

Gin could hardly believe it, he actually had pegged that guy as gay, since he never seemed to be after any of the women in any division. "He most certainly is not gay, and I will have you know I love him, and if things work out the way I wanted them. I will be his wife. Gin told her that he was too much into combat to actually make any woman happy. Rangiku told them that she actually liked his focus, determination and discipline.

Ichigo and Rangiku began dating and enjoying each other's company more and more. Ichigo learned to relax and take a breather every once in a while, and Rangiku trained with her own sword and through much advice from Ichigo she managed the bankai release. She didn't show it to anyone, and she only used it when her life was in danger. She often would say that Ichigo's training was not that severe, to which every member of Ichigo's division including Karazaki called her a liar.

The couple dated for three years and at the end of those three years, they decided to tie the knot. Capitan Commander Yamamoto conducted the ceremony and Isshin was his brother's best man. For Rangiku she had Yoruichi, Unohana and of course Yachiru. Why was Yachiru present? well she was not about to let her uncle Ichi get married and she missing out on the fun now was she?

For three years Ichigo kept his desire for Rangiku under control, for three long agonizing year he wanted to make love to her and he waited. She felt the same as him but she was dealing with it too. The Captain Commander did a wonderful ceremony, which was mostly ignored by the bride and groom because they kept staring at each other. Until he put a little more spiritual pressure and they both did their vows.

Gin was staring at Ichigo like he wanted to kill him, for stealing his favorite toy. Aizen could careless about him, Rangiku or any other in the soul society, what he was most worried about was if Ichigo found out he was the one that opened the hole to Hueco Mundo and convinced those hollow to work for him. The construction of las noches was taking longer than expected. It would take decades to finish but seeing as it was going to be his base for his plan, there was not much he could do about it..

The Captain Commander declared the two man and wife and that was when they kissed and Ichigo and Rangiku both took off towards their home, Yoruichi joked that they could not take it any longer and decided to finally enjoy their honeymoon. They of course where stopped by the Lieutenant of the Captain Commander. They were dragged back for the reception and party.

The party was enjoyed by everyone except Gin, how simply had a sour look on his face. It was no secret why, he and Rangiku practically grew up together, it would be no surprise that he had developed feelings for her. But as angry and jealous as he was, he could also tell that she was happy to be with the man that was now her husband. From that day on the happy go lucky guy he was, was no more. He hid behind his fake smile and made himself feel better by being as sarcastic as he could be, and what was worse is that he would come to enjoy it.

The honeymoon turned out to be an absolute success, Ichigo was surprised to see that his bride wore that formal wedding dress, but with absolutely nothing in the way of underwear. As the too spent the night making love, and he enjoyed making his wife scream in absolute orgasmic bliss, in the after glow of their last love making session she asked him a single question. "Ichigo, did I ever tell you what my favorite food is?" Ichigo could not remember, so he told him she never mentioned it. "It's strawberries, I love the taste of strawberries, and that is why I will never get tired of kissing you, my beloved husband."

The two enjoyed their honeymoon, it was an all paid vacation to a tropical island in the human world. She enjoyed teasing him with her swimsuit, and he enjoyed spending time with her. Occasionally he had to fight a hollow or two, in a way that made her laugh, this big brawny looking hollow came charging into their private beach and was clear that he wanted a fight.

"Look, you want to fight me now!? I am in the middle of my honeymoon you moron. Can you at least not do this in front of my wife!?" Rangiku was trying very hard not to burst into a fit of laughter as she saw the big brawny hollow blush something awful and it turns out it was a female hollow of all things, she excused herself and told him that they could fight some other time.

"Nah, don't worry my husband could use the work out. Go on, darling. Don't make that lady hollow go away sad, there is nothing more horrible than to watch a hollow cry." This surprised Ichigo and angered the hollow, she charged for Rangiku thinking that it would be safe, since she didn't have her weapon with her. The hollow was wrong, Rangiku materialized her sword and cut that hollow into five pieces.

That was when Ichigo made a single promise to himself, never get on the bad side of his wife, or he might end up like that hollow. The rest of the honeymoon was enjoyed by the couple, without a single hollow coming near them for obvious reasons. They got back and they were welcomed by Karazaki, Yachiru, Gin who was smiling his creepy smile, Captain Yamamoto and Unohana.

Unohana told Rangiku that she was there because she missed her regular physical exam. So she dragged Rangiku Kurosaki away to her office for the exam. That was the excuse anyways, more than likely she wanted all the details about the honeymoon. Karazaki made fun of him that soon he would know the joys of being a father, he asked Yachiru if he would one day be willing to babysit and she of course said yes.

The couple worked like always and being in separate divisions they did not spend much time together, except during lunch or when they were training together, or at their home. The paper work that a Captain had to go through was immense however, and many times Rangiku fell asleep and her husband was still doing paper work till late into the evening, drinking tea and doing paper work on their dining room table.

"I swear this paper is so much you could choke a gillian with it." He looked up and saw the smiling face of his wife. Which meant only one of two things, it was morning or she was angry that he never came to their bed. He feel better when he saw that it was indeed six in the morning. "You keep this up, and you might end up being the Captain Commander one day. You know you can always ask me to help you, I am a seated officer."

"I would hate to ruin your sleep with this, today is our day off so get some rest, I still have to read and categorize all the hollow elimination reports. I still don't know why we even right these up, honestly a dead hollow is a dead hollow, why do we have to report about it." Rangiku told him it was for the research division. "Honestly that division just started and we have been doing these reports since I can remember. That Urahara, I swear he will be the end of me, what did I ever do to him for Kisuke to hate me like this."

"He just want to have more material to improve our equipment that is all, and your division is so offense oriented, who better to ask about how it is to fight all kinds of hollows?" He knew his wife was right, and she even sat down and began helping him categorize his reports. Ichigo asked him why she didn't go back to their bed. "And leave my beloved husband buried in reports, I should think not. I want you to finish this so I can have a sleep without worries, and I can only do that when I can feel you with your arms around me. So let's finish this paper work so you can join me in our bed."


	4. Chapter 4

This is a fan fiction. I do not own Bleach in any form.

The following morning Ichigo woke up and gave her beloved wife a sweet and tender kiss on her lips. She woke up to her beloved husband giving her a kiss, so in her books that was the start of a good day. She sat down and watched as her husband prepared their breakfast. It was all in the agreed rules of the house, they each took turns cooking the meals of the day. There was none of the typical wife's duty to take care of the home nonsense.

They helped each other in everything that they needed and did not even flinch when it was something that they did not enjoy, Rangiku hated organizing reports with a passion, but she helped her husband finishing the new batch of reports that would go to the research and development division. The month before that he helped her doing the budget and trying to keep the household expenses down.

Rangiku knew that she had a bit of a shopping habit, and he told her that if they purchased things in the human world, they could find things much, and I mean much cheaper than they were in the soul society. She did not believe him, but it was true. She bought a few change of clothes for both of them, why did humans have soul reaper uniforms it was simply unheard of but they did have all the pieces for a complete uniform. She bought several for herself, and her husband, and finally a set of silky lingerie to spice up the love making on the nights they had energy to do that.

All in all the whole shopping was done with a fraction of the amount she would normally spend. That was when it hit her, the idea that would make their home financially secure. The people of Rukongai always complained that they had to wear rags because the clothes were too expensive. So Rangiku bought a wide array of clothes and she priced them the double the cost in the human world.

When the Kurosaki clothes for the ordinary person opened up. The people saw the prices the merchandise was bought in matter of minutes. The shop had to close for the day, because everything was sold. The following day there was a line four blocks long waiting for the shop to open. She quite literally had to ask Urahara if their was a way to set up a supply line for the shop, and sure enough there was, but he wanted two percent of all sales to fund his research division.

Rangiku agreed and he told her that she could charge triple the human price and it would still be a bargain. They shop did not sell anything that could be sold as a uniform for anyone working in one of the division or the support personnel. She did not want to upset the shops that sold those items, if she did sell them they would cause a riot to make the shop go under.

In a matter of weeks there was very little difference between how people in Rukongai and the human world dressed. This gave the people in the soul society a much needed lift in morale, and the situation of the people in Rukongai was slowly and surely improving. With a better feeling of their lives, other people began to open businesses of their own, jobs were created, and what was once considered a slum, became their home town that each soul was very proud of living in.

Ichigo on the other hand spent most of his free time to either train or continue to investigate the increase of hollows in the human world, he was sure that someone was helping the hollows enter the human world, the reason was not known, but Karazaki said that the reason was to make the hollows stronger, but that did not make sense, why would anyone want the hollows to be stronger than they already were.

Captain Commander Yamamoto heard his suspicions and that worried him more than he was willing to show, so much so that he assigned several of the research division and the scout division to help him with his investigations. This of course had the expected result of upsetting Aizen since the investigation would mean he would have to stop allowing hollows to feed on humans, and that was going to slow down his plans.

Captain Yamamoto was very clear that no one doing the investigation was to mention that there was a possible soul reaper orchestrating the increase of hollows in the human world. The sheer suspicion would cause the soul reapers to start distrusting each other, and blaming each other for being the suspicious traitor. Ichigo understood the reason, he did not like it, but he understood the reason.

As the investigation progressed it was clear that a high ranking soul reaper must be the one doing it, his investigation team came up with the idea that maybe, just maybe the traitor wanted to evolve hollows faster and to have as any of them out of hueco mundo so that he could do something without interruptions. Ichigo did not like the sound of that, he knew vasto lordes were not something to take lightly one of them could wipe out an entire division.

Yachiru took up the habit of always being on Ichigo's shoulder whenever she was close to him, he had no clue why the girl he cared about as a niece would do that, but it did mean that he would have some company during the many hours of the investigation. Karazaki was no help, he laughed as he saw his little girl so happy. Rangiku was as always busy taking care of the paper work in Isshin's division and she sometimes thought about her husband and dreamed of the possibility of having a child of their own.

Unohana told her that pregnancy was something that would change her life forever. The pain of childbirth was something so severe, that she would never be the same after feeling it. She joked and told her that how could she know that? She has been single since she met her. Unohana laughed and said that she should be grateful that she was, because if she had decided to she would be the one being single at this very moment.

"What? You actually had feelings for my husband!?" Unohana told her why wouldn't she have feelings, for a tough, skilled, handsome and caring guy like Ichigo, she actually fell in love with him around the time he became captain. But it was pretty clear that he lover someone else, making sure to point in her direction, so she would not prevent Ichigo from following his own heart.

Rangiku understood the message and told her that she was happy with Ichigo, and wanted this time to last forever, but deep down she also had seen how Ichigo was with Yachiru, and that made her think it would be wonderful if he was like that with their own kids. Unohana continued her examination of Rangiku and asked how many children would she want? Rangiku told her no less than three.

Unohana joked with her that if she kept doing what she did with her husband, there would be no problem at all for her to have those three kids. This made her assistant and Rangiku blush. "What is true, this shows that significant residual spiritual energy in her body, and there are only three ways that could happen, a kido from an attacker, one from a healer, and the last during sex. And I would be examining a corpse of the foul that either rapes her or tries to kill her. Captain Kurosaki would kill him faster than I can blink."

"Well, yes my husband tends to be a little protective of me, and he is head of the combat division. But I am not defenseless, I can fight too." The aide told her that nobody doubted her ability to fight. "Everything looks fine from my exam results, and you have good vital signs, so not much stress in your home life, which is unheard of in a new marriage."

"My darling husband and I work thing out before they get worse, and we share in all our household duties." That was when the aide dropped the tray she was holding. "Say, what!? he does things around the house on top of being a Captain and all that paperwork!? I knew my husband was lazy but this is just proves it, he is a slacker." Unohana again said that she was in a situation that was unheard of by most marriages.

"Well he said that he helps me because he loves me and I help him sometimes too sort reports, I don't see why your aide reacted like that." Unohana told her she just got done with their honeymoon phase, and they clearly did not work things out like she did with her husband. That was obvious as she walked out of the room and heard the aide screaming something awful to another doctor.

"I should do something, to thank him for being so considerate, I had no idea that I was being treated differently." Rangiku decided to make for him his favorite dinner, and wear that perfume he bought for her. "To think that I went for a check up and ended up learning how considerate my husband was too. I guess I just got used to him wanting my point of view on a few of the things around our home. I wonder how would our lives change if we had a few kids..."

"Well for starters, we would have to take turns in the night time feeding, changing and cleaning of the kids, so we might not get as much sleep as we do now, and the kids would mean that our budget would need to be planned out all over again. Then the other we would have to child proof our home, and deal with behavior problems, and more frequent visits to the doctors, kids do get sick quite a bit, and finally their diets as soon as they can eat solid food."

Rangiku turned around and saw her husband smiling face, and she kissed him as he finished telling what he believed would change. Ichigo kissed her back and took hold of her and placed some small kisses on her face, neck and ears. "But as always what do you think would change?" Rangiku told him that it was pretty much what he said, and the only thing she mentioned was that instead of using baby powder that they should use hypoallergenic wipes, prevent rashes and other discomforts.

"Well that aside, why are we talking about child care and what smells so good?" Rangiku told him that the doctor told her she should consider talking about this, since they could end up having a kid, considering how many times they made love, and what smelled nice was dinner, so she told him to wash up and get his plate, cause dinner was now ready. "Done and Done, but before you say it, since you cooked it, I will take care of the dish washing."

Rangiku could not help it she simply smiled as her husband sat down and passed her his plate. As she was serving him his food, she asked him a simple question, and the question was, "Why are you always so considerate of me?" Ichigo took his plate and smiled, "That one is easy to answer, cause I love you."

As the couple at their meal they both talked about how was their day, Ichigo about his investigation and Rangiku about her division and her visit to the doctor, he was not surprised by Unohana's words at all. What he told her was simple, the decision on how many kids they would have was hers, and even when she became pregnant, he would support whatever she decided.

Rangiku told him in a teasing tone that maybe he would change that answer if she said that she wanted to get started now. "Then we just have to wait for the day you are ovulating and I am there." Rangiku laughed and told him she was kidding, but Ichigo was very serious about it. "I love you, Rangiku, I will wait till you feel it's the right moment for us to start our family."

Little did they know that night the birth control pills would not work and Rangiku would ended up pregnant not with one but three little boys, the happy couple would find that out a few days after, since Rangiku saw breakfast and ran towards the bathroom feeling nauseous. This made Ichigo call Unohana who indeed told them that she was pregnant, and the couple began asking her if what they should do?

Unohana did what she did when a couple found out they were going to be parents, she gave them a lecture. Too bad Yachiru and Karazaki just walked into the living room as she began the lecture, they both waited till the lecture was over, and that was when Yachiru jumped on Ichigo's back, and jumped up and down really happy. saying that she was happy that she was going to have a cousin. Karazaki simply smiled at seeing his little girl so happy.

Aizen looked at Gin's smiling face and asked him if he was happy about the result after switching her birth control pills, for fake ones? Gin told him that now that his wife was pregnant that could possibly delay to a grinding halt his investigation and Aizen like that. "Not the way I would have chosen, but well done, Gin. well done." Gin bowed in an exaggerated way and smiled at him, "All in service of you, your majesty."

Aizen was happy to know his plan could continue at a much faster pace, and that his subordinate was as loyal as ever. Little did they know that Ichigo would continue to investigate and would one day find out the truth behind the evil plan by Aizen and the real reason why Gin switched those birth control pills. But for today Ichigo and Rangiku were happy to hear that they would in nine months they would be parents.


	5. Chapter 5

This is a fan fiction. I do not own Bleach in any form.

Gin real reason for switching her birth control pills, was a much better reason that what he gave to Aizen, he simply wanted Rangiku to be happy, and since they were kids she always dreamed of falling in love and having children with the love of her life, he was not happy to see that it was not himself, that was the man whom she would fall in love with, but that did not mean he stopped caring about her, they grew up together and if he could not be her husband, he would be her mischievous brother instead.

Her duties in the 10th division were suspended due to the fact that Unohana finally was able to discern how many kids the couple was going to have. The news hit her as hard as if the gate guardian had fallen on top of her. She was happy to be pregnant but now she finds that it is not one but three children that she was now carrying. This meant that her pregnancy would be more difficult than most.

Ichigo had a few issues himself, first the fact that his brother wouldn't shut up about how happy he was to learn he was going to be an uncle, his lieutenants were no help either. The guys congratulated him at their first opportunity. Everyone was very willing to lend a helping hand. The one that had some real problems was Captain Commander Yamamoto, he had really try hard to hide his joy. Ichigo was very much like a son to the man.

Karazaki was more concern about how he was going to deal with training, dealing with the hollows, and being a father of three sons. He simply would help when he saw Ichigo having a hard time.

Rangiku was a truly brave woman before she found about her pregnancy. After she became very focused and would do everything she could to make certain that her children would grow healthy and strong, just like their father. She often joked that her becoming a mother put all her priorities into focus.

It was the most stressful time for Ichigo and his division. For some strange reason hollows had continued to get stronger to the point that Ichigo had to use his banki release to defeat a very organized group of hollows.

Rangiku was placed on desk duty by her captain, it would not due to overwork her while in her condition. She kept trying to find a reason why anyone would want the hollows, the enemy they trained to defeat grow in strength, to the point of teaching them how to enter the human world.

Captain Commander Yamamoto was also concerned and so he assigned a Captains to investigate the possibility that someone or a group of people were traitors to the 13 squads and soul society. The Captain assigned to the investigation was Aizen. He was told to investigate a possible reason for anyone wanting to make hollows stronger and more organized.

Captain Aizen accepted but he did say that he might need help from the 11 division, since the hollows only respect strength, the group of alleged traitors must be very strong, and his division was not as proficient in combat as Ichigo and his division, Captain Commander Yamamoto agreed to his request of being able to request aid from the 11th division.

Late that night Rangiku asked her husband why would anyone want to make hollows more dangerous than they already were? Ichigo looked at her and smiled. "Rangiku, This is only a guess, but I imagine who ever is doing that wants to challenge or outright eliminate the soul reapers, but the real question is not why he want hollow to be stronger, the real question is what do this or these people have to gain."

Ichigo simply could not understand. That their protection of the human realm was to protect the place where souls were sent to grown, and purify. The real task of the soul reapers was the protection of the soul king and the royal family. The soul king governed and maintained life in all three realms, spirit, human and even hueco Munro. As horrible as the hollows are, they too have a purpose. It simply that they never spent the time to try and figure it out.

Aizen knew the purpose, but he did not care one bit. He just believed that if anyone deserved to be god of all creation, that the only person that was qualified was himself. Now that he had control over the investigation. He could make it into a never ending wild goose chase. When he found the tool to create his army, his plan to strengthen the hollows would provide for truly powerful hollows, and with that tool his arrancar would be stronger than all soul reapers, and with them he would take his rigthfull place as the soul king.

To bad he never actually accounted that his right hand man was a traitor. That he would do anything no matter how evil, to protect the one person he cared about. That being his beloved childhood friend, Rangiku. The other thing he did not count on was the efficiency of Rangiku when she was investigating something. Last but not least was that Ichigo was not as dumb as Widen had come to believe.

Ichigo continued to preform his duties, and managed to never neglect his wife's feelings or needs. Most other Captains stay single because of the belief that their duties would make marriage impossible. Ichigo clearly was either proving it wrong or was the exemption to that particular belief. Most lady soul reapers simply came to believe that Ichigo loved his wife, enough that any effort was worth it to keep her happy. Granted he did not always succeed, but no matter the argument they never went to bed without working through their argument.

It was Captain Yamamoto who gave him this piece of advice. "Never go to bed will you are angry." Ichigo understood what he meant and that saved his marriage more than a few times.

It was eight months into her pregnancy when the doctor told Rangiku that she was to stop working and was ordered to bed rest. The three babies it seems would get really active, and she needed to rest so close to her due date. It was not rest for her it was torture. But thanks to Ichigo she finally reached the expected hour. After much pain, swearing, and accusations on what he had done to her. Rangiku gave birth to three healthy boys. The red head Ichigo named Renji, the one with blond hair he named Toma and the one with black hair he named Shiro.

Rangiku had no objections to those names, intact they were a lot better than what she first thought. She wanted to name them in the order they were born, first, second and third. Ichigo said that would make the three brothers argue about everything, and they would not be able to get anything done. Ranging asked what could three kids could argue about? Ichigo remembering his chilhood said that they would argue about everything from who cleanse the dishes to who should open their birthday gift first.

Rangiku simply told him, that they simply had to teach discipline early on, and set some clear rules and consequences for failing to follow said rules. "Ichigo, no matter how many hollows you do away with, or children will eventually will become soul reapers like us. Teaching them proper discipline will make their lives easier in the long run."

"Not to mention it would make the lives of their teachers easier too. I am sure Captain Commander Yamamoto would have had a much easier time if they had done that for me and my brother." Rangiku kissed her husband and looked at their sleeping babies. They were able to go home the following day, and they found something they did not expect. Ichigo found out that his entire division had purchased enough diapers for the entire maternity wing of the hospital they just left.

Rangiku's friends decided to buy the baby clothes and lotions and powders they would need. But Captain Commander Yamamoto was the one with the biggest surprises, he assigned a member of the support staff to be a log term babysitter and not one but three cribs. The newest invention from the research &amp; development division. A crib that as the child grew would accommodate his size, something about sensor that measured the child's weight and spiritual energy.

From that day on the couple began to secretly worry about the future of their children. Then again that was all parents do. Time seemed to go by faster, and before they realized it Ichigo had to go and meet with a teacher, because Renji put gum on the hair of one of his classmates, Toma had gotten a bad grade on his last history test, and Shiro had been sent to detention for beating a boy that called him a nerd.

The other thing that happened was that Ichigo learned two facts, dealing with hollows as a breeze, compared with being the father of three boys. In some instances going to the human world to deal with hollows became almost therapeutic. But it was when the three brothers finished their elementary education that it happened.

Not one but three vasto lords showed up in the human world, all in the town Ichigo's brother had gone to meet someone a few days before. Ichigo and his officers went to deal with the threat. Karazaki earned the named Kempachi that day for dealing with so many of the vasto lords underlings. But Ichigo killed all three of the immensely powerful vasto lords, but suffered injuries of such a magnitude that other soul reapers could not hold back their tears. Their Captain had died on the line of duty, the determination and ideals of Ichigo would be inherited by his successor Karazaki Kempachi.

Rangiku was helping her boys with their homework. Captain Commander Yamamoto entered the house. He had his lieutenant take the boys to another room, Rangiku knew that it was something bad since she couldn't remember when did this man look as sad as he was now. "Rangiku, you might want to sit down for this."

Rangiku told him that she was able to handle any mission he had for her. Yamamoto walked close and told her she really needed to sit down, seeing that he would not say what he was going to say till took a seat, she did. "Rangiku, Several hours ago a large group of hollows attacked the human world. The 11th division went to deal with the threat, there were several vasto lords leading the group. Ichigo defeated the three vast lords that were leaders of this group, but I am sorry, Ichigo died on the line if duty, due to the severity of the injuries he sustained."

Rangiku knew that being a soul reaper was a dangerous life, she also knew that as Captain he would everything he could to keep his division members safe. This however did not stop the sadness and pain of lose from being felt by her. His lieutenant must have dine the same thing with the boys. Since when Rangiku began to cry hard, the three boys came and hugged their mother.

That was the day the three brothers would stop their childish antics, and would dedicate every spare moment to train, and be stronger than their father had been. Isshin stepped down from being captain and took a permanent guard post on the town his brother died. Ichigo died protecting that town, the only thing he could do is make sure his sacrifice was honored by keeping it safe. Gin was not known to be open about his feelings, but everyone believed that he hated Ichigo, but that was proven wrong when he began crying when he heard of his death.

Aizen on the other hand was feeling a lot less stress after hearing if Ichigo's death. One of the major impediments to his plan had been removed. He could accelerate his plans, or so he believed until he heard that Ichigo's brother would be a permanent guard on the very town he planned to use to make his key to enter the soul king palace.


	6. Chapter 6

This is fan fiction, I do not own Bleach in any format.

As fate would have it the soul of Ichigo Kurosaki was sent not to be reincarnated in the human realm, but instead he was sent to Hueco Mundo. The new hollow was quite surprised to find that fighting other hollows was both entertaining and a good workout. It took him ten years what most would accomplish in hundreds if not thousands if years. He achieved the rank of Vasto Lorde. He had to go through the entire evolution, from being a the lowest rank, to a very powerful wolf adjuchas and finally his current form.

In his time he had the misfortune of meeting several soul reapers that had come to Hueco Munro to hunt hollows. In his current form he had none if the hunger that drove him from fight to fight. But that did not mean he liked unwelcomed guests in his territory. He had fought the hollow king to earn the right to claim his forest and was quite happy living there. "Soul reaper, I will not have bloodshed in my forest home, you are to leave or be made to leave."

Shinji was surprised that a hollow would take time to even speak to him. "Hollow, I will not be the one to start any bloodshed, I seek a murderer in your forest, help me find the one who killed my friend and I shall leave and I might even reward you with an item of your choosing." Ichigo was bored so he saw no reason why not to help, but he would not let done his guard. "If keep your word I shall aid you, but break your word and you shall not live to tell the tale."

Thevsoul reaper clearly had an ulterior motive. Ichigo was told what the hollow Shinji was looking for looked like, he nearly fell from the tree branch he was standing on when he heard. It was a female hollow that looked like a wolf. He had spent so much time as a wolf adjucha that he knew very well what they preferred in a hunting ground. Shinji was the first to spot his prey, and began to attack the hollow. Using all his speed Ichigo managed to get in between them. "Hollow did you kill a soul reaper recently?" She was about to answer when Shinji interrupted. "Why are you wasting time, kill the blasted thing and I will leave your forest that was the deal."

"Yes, lord. I did kill a soul reaper recently, but it was not without good cause. When I was alone, this soul reaper used some sort if spell to immobilize me, and then he and his friends took turned beating me till I could not stand, then the soul reaper that I later killed raped me. I had to avenge such dishonor. I was resting in your forest to heal my wounds." Well this changes everything, and he had a suspicion that Shinji was not trying to avenge his friend, but try and cover up their crime.

"I see, soul reaper you will leave her be or face me. I will not see an innocent murderered in front of me." Shinji smiled and began to laugh like a crazy man. "Innocent and hollow are a contradiction in terms. Their are no innocent hollows, their very existance is evil. To hell with it, I planned to get you two wounded enough so that I might kill you, then have my fun with the bitch and kill her afterwards. But if you are as weak as you sound this fight will be a piece of cake, I will make officer for killing a weak Vasto Lorde like you."

The idiot tried to attack Ichigo straight to his chest, but he caught the blade and took it from him. Somehow the blade seemed almost happy to be held by him. "You filth, you dare touch the blade of the honorable former captain of my squad. I have killed many hollows with that blade to honor him, and you dare hold it in your filthy hand." Ichigo felt like time slowed down. A beautiful lady appeared in his mind and smiled, he began to say a string of words that made no sense to those that were listening, but finally he took the blade and entered a stance that was unmistakeable by Shinji.

A hollow was in the famed bankai release stance, that is when he heard the words that he could not believe anyone knew of, "Consume the sins of the world in your holy flames, Amaterasu no Kimi." The blade handle turned black and the blade looked like it was made of pure blue flames. This scared Shinji out of his mind, he knew of only one person who could do that and that was the famed captain of the 11th squad Ichigo Kurosaki, he had to retreat and inform Aizen of his discovery.

"I am sorry for my behavior, I hope that you can see past my foolishness and keep that blade as my apology. If you let me leave In swear on my soul that I will never return to your forest. Please I beg you to show me mercy." The blade returned to normal and he took the scabbard from his belt, looked at the other hollow and she nodded her head. "Very well, the hollow you were trying to dishonor forgives you, but next time I see you trying to harm her or in my forest you shall die."

Shinji left as he saw this Vasto Lorde put the sword in the scabbard like he had done so a million times before. "What us your name? I am Ichigo Kurosaki" The female wolf bowed her head in a clear sign of respect. "I am Semillia, you can call me Semil if you want." He walked over to her and got on down so that he could look at her eyes, "You must be hungry, come Semil let us hunt some dinner for you." She was happy to hear that and walked along side Ichigo. Together they killed a few hollows that had invaded his territory, but Semillia was the only one that ate.

She asked him why he did not eat. "When one of our kind reaches to be like me, you find that you don't need to feed for a very long time. Our energy output is so great that we rarely feel any hunger at all. These horns of mine also make it quite difficult for me to eat. Alright, the last bit was an excuse but I was just trying to make you laugh." Semillia indeed found it quite funny to imagine. "So why do you show me such mercy? You save me, hunt with me, and even let me eat most of what we hunted."

Ichigo told her to come closer, "I live in this vast forest all alone, and most don't come near here because they fear me or they are waiting for me to drop my guard and attack me. Why should I not help you, I was a wolf adjucha like you, Semil. Maybe I wanted a friend, and some company. It seems I could never shake my wolf tendencies. I shall treat you as my friend, but I think you could be my little sister. So go to sleep, your training starts bright and early." She asked what she was going to learn, Ichigo laughed and told her he would not ruin the surprise.

The training was indeed a surprise, the way he began to tell her to exercise caught her by surprise, but after a week she began to feel the results. She felt stronger, agile and feeling a hundred times better that before. The only negative was that her hunger was much more difficult to satisfy. Thanks to her training she got strong enough to help Ichigo in the hunt for food. More and more hollows seemed to be either curious about the forest, or they heard there were tough opponents there. In the end it did not matter it only meant that Ichigo and Semillia would not run out of prey in a long time.

Three years later and Ichigo was quite proud of Semillia's progress. She had grown tough enough to take down a gillian all by herself. He often laughed as it seemed incredible that something so small, in comparison could take down something that big. Semillia and as she preferred to call him her big brother were perfectly happy in that forest they called home. They had plenty of food, and even more chances to prove their strength. But some times she wished her brother would at least try and fins himself a mate, he simply looked so lonely sometimes when he was watching her train.

In the soul society Gin was having another drink on the anniversary of Shinji running out of the gateway to hueco mundo, screaming his head off that the former captain if the 11th squad was now an incredibly powerful Vasto Lorde, and he took his sword, and now had the ability to use the bankai release. This of course got him sent to a mental hospital since, and has maintained his stance that the much respected Ichigo Kurosaki was now a Bsnkai wielding Vasto Lorde. Gin was happy for several reasons, first it proved that even dead Ichigo continued to beat all expectations, second that Rangiku would one day be again with the love of her life, and finally one day he would have an ally against Aizen and his crazy plan.

Rangiku was very busy with both her duties as an officer in her squad and the constant difficulties of being a mother. Her children while not being a complete and utter nightmare to their teachers, they still proved to be quite a lot to deal with. The positive thing was their teachers could never say that they found their jobs boring, Renji was always beating up the class bullies, Shiro had a real problem with social skills, he prefered reading books about soul reaper skills and Toma was always trying to help his teacher with cleaning their classroom.

Captain Commander Yamamoto was having another year of remembering what that idiot Shinji was screaming about. He felt that he either was jealous of the success that the former captain of Hus squad, that he started to scream that to discredit him in the eyes of all the 13 squads, or he simply was suicidal. If Karazaki Kenpachi or his daughter heard what he was screaming they would be picking the pieces of him for a few weeks. Karazaki worked almost several times to the point of collapsing to become the captain equal to his predecessor.

Ichigo had finished preparing dinner, it turned out the forest was an absolute heaven for spices and herbs. He managed to come up with a few dozen recipes that could be made from the flesh of their prey, some would call it out right sick eating the corpses of your own kind, but in hueco mundo hollows did that their whole lives. Semillia seem to enjoy his cooking and that what really made him start the entire cooking practice to begin with.

It was their 5th year together that a faithful meeting occurred. In the clearing in his forest Ichigo felt that their were several hollows hiding. He had the feeling that they were getting ready to ambush him and Semillia. He told her his worries and they both decided to check it out. What they saw was not what they expected to see, their was a clearly female Vasto Lorde, taking care if three injured adjuchas. Ichigo was never one to beat around the bush.

He decided to jump in front of the group, scaring the three injured adjuchas in the process. "Mind telling me why you four decided to do in my forest?" The lady Vasto Lords decided to speak for the group. "I heard rumors that someone maintained this forest rather peaceful, unheard of here in hueco mundo but they are injured and starving. I planned to heal their injuries and leaving them here for me to be able to hunt for some food for them." Semillia decided that she should make her contribution to this discussion.

"Unless you are familiar with the medicinal herbs in this forest, you will attract every gillian from a mile around if not used correctly. I happen to know quite a bit about healing, and if my big brother here allows I can treat those injuries, I am Semillia, and Mr. Sensitive is my big brother Ichigo, and you are?" The lady vasto lorde could not help to laugh as she heard her call him Mr. Sensitive. "I am Tier Harribel, these are my little sister Apachi, Mila and Cyan. I promise not to betray your trust, but we do need your help."

"Wait here while me and Semil bring you a few things that you will need." Ichigo went to their dwelling and got some if his preserved cooked meals, and Semillia took the herbs she would need to heal the injuries of the adjuchas. As soon as they returned they gave the food to the three adjuchas, and Ichigo told them to try it before they judged on the taste. They did and by the way they were eating, they really liked the taste, or they simply were that hungry. While they ate Semillia began to treat their injuries.


	7. Chapter 7

This is a fan fiction. I do not own Bleach in any form.

The following day Tier and her sisters felt better than ever, they simply never had such a peaceful sleep since they could remember. Tier was thinking very hard as to why would a hollow show anyone any mercy, it was not typical of how a hollow would act. She finished her breakfast and saw that her sisters had received their morning treatment by Semillia, she decided to ask her why did Ichigo have so much food? And where she learned to heal wounds like she did. Semillia continue to work on Apachi's injuries while she decided to tell her.

"The reason we have food is because Ichigo found a way to cook and preserve our food, typical hollow flesh lasts a few hours, but thanks to my big brothers experiments in cooking, he managed to improve the taste and once prepared and properly stored. The food last for a few weeks if not a whole month. We still hunt every day, but thanks to his cooking we don't feel bad when get managed to get nothing that day." Tier found it remarkable, almost praiseworthy.

Semillia moved to treat Mila next, "As to my healing that was my experiment. Ichigo may be a kind guy, but he is a harsh teacher, and his training can lead to injuries if you don't pay attention, but in the end it is worth it. You probably will never believe me, but thanks to Ichigo's training I am strong enough to take down a gillian all by myself. I also learned to heal not only to treat my injuries, but as a thank you for my big brother. I wanted to contribute something to our home life."

She went last to heal Cyan. The last questions was the one that had the shortest answer, the question was, Does your brother have a mate? This made Semillia looked rather embarassed, as soon as she finished healing Cyan she look at Tier and told her that as far as she knew, her brother had no mate or has ever looked for one. "But why? As far as you told me, he has virtues that would make him the single most sought out male hollow in hueco mundo. So why doesn't he have a mate?" Semillia only said that she did not know.

Tier decided to go for a walk and saw Ichigo train with what looked like a zanpakto, why would a hollow be training with the weapon of their natural enemies, the soul reapers? She saw him train and she was fascinated by the way he moved with the blade, it was almost as if he was working with his weapon, rather than simply swing it around. "Can I help you with something, Tier?" She saw certaintly surprised at being found out so easily.

"I have questions of a personal nature, would you mind answering at least answering them?" Ichigo put his sword back in on the scabbard. "I don't mind listening to them first, and if I decide after hearing them, I will choose with to answer, but you have to ask. Mind reading is not one if my talents." Tier could not help but to laugh at that last part of his comment. "Why don't you have a mate?" Ichigo told her that it was more than likely the same reason as her, the danger of hueco mundo, allowed little time for romance, as when he became a Vasto Lorde and regain his memory, most hollows were scared of him.

"True our kind doesn't have much time or opportunities to date." Ichigo told her to ask her next question. "Why did it look like you were working alinsude that sword, just a moment ago." Ichigo looked at the blade and with a smile he told her that was eaxctly what he was doing. "This blade is alive, just like I am. She is a part of me, that I had been apart for awhile, so we were just getting reacquainted. Amaterasu is shy, other wise I would be glad to introduce her to you." Tier asked how can a hollow consider a soul reaper weapon a part of himself? That was the one thing Ichigo could not answer since he couldn't figure it out, he just did.

Amaterasu knew the reason and she wished that she could tell him, she wanted to scream the reason so that all the hollows present would know. That the man holding her had been an absolute vision of what a soul reaper was. But deep down she also knew that if he learned the truth, the pain that would follow could drive him close to insane out of the sheer grief, or blind with rage. She wanted Ichigo to know the truth, but she cared too much about him to cause him such pain, in the end she decided to let him find out the truth on his own, the truth always comes out, it was only a matter of time.

The three that were injured recovered rather quickly thanks to both the food Ichigo prepared, and Semillia's treatment of their injuries, the three even talked amount themselves, that they did not want to leave their newly found home. Semillia joked with them that they might change their tune if Ichigo decided that the only way they would be alllowed to stay is that they trained. Apachi was sure if she was well, she actually would welcome the training, Cyan not so much, she said that she rather learn how to cook like Ichigo, and Mila wanted to learn how to treat injuries.

The day finally arrived, and it was as Semillia said, if they wanted to stay they needed to train and when strong enough contribute in someway to their home. It was simple really the way Ichigo explained it. "The training will prepare you to defend and be able to provide for yourselves. You never know when some unforseen tragedy might befall them, and then they will have to be able to either defend themselves or others against attack. Hueco Mundo does not let the weak live long."

Tier was not against the way idea of them training, in fact she welcomed it. In fact she asked if Semillia could train them, and she could train with Ichigo. There was nothing wrong with that idea, Semillia knew all the training methods and how his training regiment was planned. This however was far from an innocent suggestion. Tier welcomed the idea of training with Ichigo for several reasons, first she could use the training, but she wanted to spend some more time with him, so that she could get to know him better. She was also happy that she would get to spend some quality time with him, alone together.

The training proved to be a double edge sword for the threeadjuchas, one the one side only after a few months they felt stronger and tougher than before, but the negative side is that after each training session they felt pain, a lot of pain each day. Apachi was also concerned with Tier. It might be painful for her too, since the training Ichigo did was on a whole different level. Tier did not mind one bit, I mean besides the horns and tail, Ichigo was a positively hunk, but then again having teeth like she did, she really had no right to say his features were that ugly.

"Ichigo do you ever do anything that is fun?" Tier clearly said something funny, because Ichigo was laughing really hard. "Of course I do some fun things." Tier smiled seeing that he also did fun thing, "Really like what?" The answer almost made her trip on her feet. "Why training, and defending my forest from idiots that want to steal it from me." Tier was really worried about him now. 'This is his idea of fun!? I don't even want to think what he thinks is having something unpleasant to do.'

Amaterasu had gone through some changes since she last seen Ichigo, but since he did not remember it was not major of an issue. During his soul reaper days she often appeared as a beautifully dressed classy lady, but since he becameva hollow and especially since he became a Vasto Lords, her way of making herself look seemed a lot more daring, aggressive if not with a bit more sex appeal in mind. Where there had been beautiful dressed was now armor, where the clothing seem to be loose was not form fitting, and where she kept most if her figure covered, now she showed significant amount of cleavage.

Tier asked him why did he meditate everyday with his sword on his lap. His answer was that by talking, and getting to know each other, they both grew stronger and their skills would get better. Tier found this to be rather strange, how could a piece of equipment talk to him. He decided it was high time, he introduced her to Amaterasu. Concentrating on his sword the figure of an armor clad red haired woman appeared. Tier first notice that she had a rather nice figure, and a pair of breasts same size as her own. Her armor looked both tough and sexy.

"Amaterasu, this is Tier Harribel, Tier this is my good friend Amaterasu." Both ladies looked at each other and they had a rather strange smile on their faces. "So you are the one that keeps slowing my Ichigo's training, how about you put a little more effort in your training." Tier had a nice comeback all ready to go, "Well how about you keep your chats for only 3 days a week instead of every day. Then maybe I can train a lot more time."

"I can see this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, I like her Ichigo. She definetly has a strong mind, and is not afraid to voice her opinions." With that Amaterasu disappeared. "No wonder you spend so much time talking to each other. Honestly is talking all that you do with her or do you screw around like a pair of wolves in heat?" Ichigo told her she was a very good friend but that was it. She of course didn't buy that excuse. For a strange reason she was actually feeling rather jealous. She had feelings for the guy but could it be she was in love with Ichigo.

The group almost forgot what life was before the met, the three training with Semilia were close as sisters. The forest felt truly like a home, and they had gotten into very nice rhythm. They ate a light breakfast, Semillia and the three adjuchas trained till mid afternoon, Ichigo and Tier trained at a different place and after training Ichigo spent some time meditating with his sword, and Tier glaring at him for doing it so often. Apachi had gotten strong enough to truly be able to pull her own height, Mila has learned to cook, Cyan was getting better at identifying injuries. All in all life was peaceful, or at least as peaceful as life could be in Hueco Mundo.

In the soul society, life was also very much the same as always, Ranging was having a serious discussion abiut proper manners with her son Renji. It appears that he made the mistake of telling his teacher something he really shouldn't. He told his mother that he simply gave his teacher some friendly advice. That is when his mother would not accept his lame excuse. "You call telling your teacher, that all she needs to do is to lighten up, and find a guy and get laid. Do I need to remind you that she is a widow, much like your mother. Are you going to dare to tell me the same thing? It is an insult not advice, and you will pay for shaming our family."

Rangiku told him he was to be on toilet cleaning duty till further notice, and no he could not use anything except soap and a brush. Toma called his brother an absolute idiot, it would have been better just asking said teacher out on a date, this comment earned him garbage duty for a month. Her last son was the only smart one and did not make a comment, he simply walked over the sink and began cleaning the the family's dishes. It was times like these that made Rangiku miss her beloved husband.


End file.
